Love/Hate relationship with Sky

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MileHighKiwi

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#176963 17-Jul-2015 12:05

We 'cut the cord' on Sky about 18 months ago when we started using Netflix, Premier League Pass, NFL Game Pass etc for our TV and sports fix.

I managed to find some reasonably good streaming options for rugby (free and paid) but recently when I watched a Super XV game at a mate's place on his HD tv I was blown away by the picture quality. I decided I missed the rugby too much to continue with sub par streaming options so I jumped at the telesales offer of $49 PM for basic, sports and movies.

So far I'm really happy to have a sports sub again and have enjoyed watching the Samoa test last week and two Ranfurly Shield matches. The AB's kick off the Rugby Championship tonight and obviously the RWC later this year is the big draw card.

Also, they have really good rugby shows like 'The Breakdown' and college first XV matches.

Sky does sports, and rugby in particular, extremely well.

Last night I was flicking bewteen the Ashes, British Open, Tour de France and a Ranfurly Shield reply, all delivered in crystal clear 1080i on my 50" plasma. I was in sports heaven, lol...

Damn you, Sky TV....I think you are overpriced and your streaming options are shiiite but you offer a pretty awesome sports experience.

Why oh why can't you just sell me a standalone sports sub!?

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239 posts

Master Geek

#1346142 17-Jul-2015 12:11

Because now they have you by the b...s and you pay for a whole load of channels that you will never ever watch

rp1790

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#1346148 17-Jul-2015 12:20

What were the legal streaming options for Rugby?

dickytim

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#1346149 17-Jul-2015 12:27

I am finding that Sky is only good for sports now, the movies are far too slow to come on to Sky unless you want to pay more for them, the TV shows are really quite limited.

I am moving shortly into a flat without sky and I honestly don't think I am going to miss it!

MileHighKiwi

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#1346185 17-Jul-2015 12:50

Lostja: Because now they have you by the b...s and you pay for a whole load of channels that you will never ever watch

Exactly. I don't know if I will continue with the package in 12 months time. If I do I certainly won't pay for movies. I'm only in it for the sports.

MileHighKiwi

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#1346192 17-Jul-2015 12:51

rp1790: What were the legal streaming options for Rugby?

http://www.rugby.livesport.tv/

DickDastardly

227 posts

Master Geek

#1346198 17-Jul-2015 12:53

Sky, yes you do have a good decoder, it functions well however, there are still some serious problems with your offering....

Some very quick things you can do to become instantly more competitive and desirable.

1) Drop the $ 10 HD ticket
2) Make decoders the property of your customers like Sky UK, then you don't have to spend (up to $20/month) to "rent" the decoder...

So that's $ 30 less each month....lets keep going...

3) Increase your HD output - Discovery, Living, History, Nat Geo, UK TV etc - the content they show is in HD to actually show it to the NZ public in HD!
4) Actually deliver your new EPG with catch up service....offering Box Sets of content will not offer a comparable service compared to Netflix as their catalogue is HUGE but would go some way to give fans what they want.

Unfortunately people are (and will continue following the RWC) leaving Sky as they are seen as expensive, inflexible, outdated, too repetitive, too many adverts etc.

People are finding they content they want in the resolution Sky cant offer for significantly less cost that offered by Sky.

Sky...your loosing ground and its not guaranteed people wont stay for your sports offering and your decoders....

Feeling the pain yet?

I don't want no sugar in it - thank you very much

littleheaven

2130 posts

Uber Geek

#1346270 17-Jul-2015 14:18

I totally agree - all I'd want Sky for would be sports. I cut the cord earlier this year and so far the only thing I miss is the ability to rewind live TV back a few seconds if I miss hearing an important bit of dialogue (kids have an uncanny ability to make huge amounts of noise right at crucial moments!). If they could offer a good HD streaming non-contract monthly online service, I'd be quite happy to pay for it for major events. They do it in the UK with NowTV - they've just introduced a rolling monthly subscription for GBP31.99 per month, no contract needed. Not sure of the resolution, but that would suit me right down to the ground in order to watch the odd cricket tour and major events like RWC.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

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SheriffNZ

671 posts

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#1352172 26-Jul-2015 21:35

Hi all.

As with you all. We primarily have Sky for the Sports. I'm thinking about dropping down to the "Freeview" version where you only get the free channels so we get to keep the decoder. I was told it's about $18 per month.

Prime will be showing the All Blacks games from the quarter finals onwards at the World Cup live. Does anyone have any experience with their free coverage? I've heard that there were issues with the free to air coverage of the last World Cup which I think was on 3. I watched it via Sky so I can't comment.

Obviously Prime put adds in their delayed coverage. Do you think they'll do the same for their "live" coverage effectively delaying the game by their ads?

I look forward to your thoughts.

Thanks

Handsomedan

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#1352306 27-Jul-2015 09:30

So, I am now thinking of dropping Sky TV.

The vast majority of what we watch is now on Freeview and with a MyFreeview DVR, we'd be in a similar position to what we are now re pause, rewind, series link etc.

My only issue would be losing access to the A-League. But that's not worth $100 a month to me.

The final nail in the coffin was the news that there may not be Uefa Champions league being shown on ESPN....makes it completely nonsensical for me to continue to pay Sky TV for this lack of what i want, going forward.

On so many occasions I have surfed through the multitude of dross on Sky (much of it repeats or old programming) and ended up going online for my entertainment.

I may ditch Sky and take up a subscription to Netflix.

I still have PLP for my football.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

Lostja

239 posts

Master Geek

#1352345 27-Jul-2015 10:17

Handsomedan: So, I am now thinking of dropping Sky TV.

Do it, do it, do it :-)

Dropped Sky 18 months ago and signed up for Netflix. Given that Sky has lost and continues to lose some of the more interesting sports, there is no way we go back. No regrets

pugsy33

63 posts

Master Geek

#1352368 27-Jul-2015 10:26

Agree,we ditched sky about a month ago.I can't stop raving about Netflix. Cheap,HD,multiple devices including apple tv. No adds.heaps of good content.

As a sports nut I do miss that side of things.but life goes on

DizzyD

523 posts

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#1352375 27-Jul-2015 10:34

Came across this:

LIST OF TV CHANNELS SHOWING THE RWC

Live TV Coverage in United Kingdom:

ITV secured the rights to broadcast RWC 2011 and 2015 in United Kingdom and they will be airing all 48 matches plus opening ceremony and closing ceremonies on two tv channels which are ITV and ITV 4 throughout 18th september to 31 october . SkySports and BBC were also in the running to buy the rights but ITV outbid them and secure RWC exclusive rights in UK till 2015.

You can also use ITV’s online iPlayer to watch every match live online if your are in UK, it will be a free-to-air transmission but only for uk viewers. following is the list of major sports channels around the world which will be broadcasting rwc 2015 in your region.

I'm hoping ITV is going to work with my getflix.com.au.
I need to give it a try sometime. Hopefully works via my chromecast.

BigMal

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#1352708 27-Jul-2015 17:15

MileHighKiwi:

Damn you, Sky TV....I think you are overpriced and your streaming options are shiiite but you offer a pretty awesome sports experience.

Why oh why can't you just sell me a standalone sports sub!?

There are some fantastic live sports streaming services available on the net, better than SKY IMO. It's much cheaper, there's much more content and the streams are great.

PM me when your sky sub comes to an end and I'll try and sort you an invite.

Sideface

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#1352735 27-Jul-2015 17:47

I don't have a love/hate relationship with Sky.
Even better, I have no relationship with Sky at all.

After 10 years of grossly overpriced viewing, we cancelled our sub several months ago, largely for financial reasons.
We recently watched Sky at a friend's house, and only then realised just how bad Sky is/has become.
I wouldn't go back even if they halved their prices (which they won't

).

/rant

Sideface

Hiamie

354 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1352741 27-Jul-2015 17:57

DickDastardly: Sky, yes you do have a good decoder, it functions well however, there are still some serious problems with your offering....

Some very quick things you can do to become instantly more competitive and desirable.

1) Drop the $ 10 HD ticket
2) Make decoders the property of your customers like Sky UK, then you don't have to spend (up to $20/month) to "rent" the decoder...
3) Increase your HD output - Discovery, Living, History, Nat Geo, UK TV etc - the content they show is in HD to actually show it to the NZ public in HD!
4) Actually deliver your new EPG with catch up service....offering Box Sets of content will not offer a comparable service compared to Netflix as their catalogue is HUGE but would go some way to give fans what they want.

Couldn't agree more... Just one more point to add...

5) Drop the self promotion ads - or at least put ads between programs where possible. Interrupting a 30 minute program 3 times, mostly for self promotion is so disruptive... enough to make one consider downloading from the Internet.

And on a slightly less important note... smaller less invasive channel logos. Better still, put them up for just a few seconds every few minutes - even better.... maybe remove them all together... after all, we already know what channel we are watching (We selected it from the remote in the first place!)... and we can always press the "Info" button on the remote if we need to!

Do the above and maybe you will gain customers rather than losing them!

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